Plunger mechanism.



F. L. O. WADSWORTH.

PLUNGER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. s, 1912,

LUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINGTON, D, c.

Patented June 17, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

,9 all! 2/ n o 20 IN VEN TOR. 3 MM ATTORNEY.

F. L. O. WADSWORTH.

PLUNGER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. s, 1912.

1,064,794. Patented June 17, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

in; I

QEJIIIIIIIIII I N VEN TOR. $41 a? W WITNESSES COLUMBIA PLANDGIAPH CO.,WASHINGTON. D. c.

' TE SAS @FXQE PLUNGER MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L, O. lVAns- \von'rn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sewickley, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plunger Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has particular reference to the provision of means for properly guiding long plungers such as are used especially in connection with elevator apparatus in which the great length or stroke of the plunger required in certain classes of service greatly aggravates the tendency of the plunger to spring or buckle out of line.

The first of the objects of this present invention is the provision of a positively driven guide mechanism for plungers of this character, comprising primarily a movable guide means for supporting said plunger interi'nediate the ends of the stroke.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a plunger device of the. character specified composed of a plurality of elements, such elements being provided with suitable positively driven mechanism whereby the motion of each of the same bears a definite ratio to the motion of one of the end elements.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a plunger guide device comprising the combination with a fixed guide located intermediate the ends of the plunger, of suitable guide mechanism supporting said plunger on both sides of said fixed guide, and arranged with proper positively driven mechanism for securing relative motion of said guide as compared with said fixed guide.

Still another object of this invention has reference to the provision of a fluid-operated mechanism comprising a plurality of separately movable parts or elements the several areas whereof are of predetermined size in their relation to each other, whereby to secure tendency to a certain order of motion, or a tendency towards precedence in their motion.

The above objects, as Well as such others as may hereinafter appear, I attain by means of the construction which I have illustrated in various modified forms in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a diagrannnatic representa- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. February 3, 1912.

Patented June 17, 1913.

Serial No. 675,366.

tion of a plunger elevator embodying certain of my improvements, the same being shown in side elevation;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a similar elevator structure showing part of the cylinder in section and guide mechanism within the cylinder;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of an elevator similar to that shown in Figure 1, having a plurality of guide devices and suitable means for securing proper relative motion between said guide devices.

Figure at illustrates the plunger comprising a series of attached sections or parts, each part being provided with means for securing proper relative motion with rela tion to the other parts or to one of the end elements;

Figure 4c is a sectional view of the lower ends of the plungers of Figure d, in telescoped relation, and indicates the relative areas of the bottoms of such plungers;

Figure 5 is a detailed sectional view indicating certain features of construction of i ure 4 on a different plane, and Figure 6 indicates a modification of the structure sh wn in Figure 5;

Figure 7 indicates a detail of the plunger construction shown in Figure 4;

Figure 8 is a side elevation of an elevator system having telescoping plunger elements illustrating the drive mechanism for assisting the elevation of the top plunger, and the means for controlling the relative movement of the various plunger elements;

Figure 9 is a detail in section through lX-IX of Figure 8 showing the drive mechanism for assisting the elevation of the plunger members as well as the guide members;

Figure 10 is a plan view of the portion of the mechanism shown in Figure 9, and Figure 11 is a modification of a detail of the driving mechanism shown in Figures fl: or 8.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1 it will be seen that in this construction of my invention I contemplate the use of a long plunger such as indicated at 1, said plunger being arranged to rise and fall in elevator practice, through a guide or stu'l'ling boX 2 and carrying a car 3, the same being supported by the usual guides 4 (Fig. 2) at the side of the pit (not shown in Figure 1).

In order to steady or support the plunger laterally intermediate its ends when it is in elevated position as shown in the drawing, I provide a movable guide device 5 which rises and falls with the plunger, but its speed is determined by the arrangement of the cable 6 and the pulleys 7 keyed to the axle 8 which is supported in suitable bearings at the top of the pit. The pulleys 7 are driven by the usual pulley 9 which is actuated by the counterbalance cables 10 fa-s tened at one end to the car 3 and at the other to the. counterbalance 11. When the car moves upward the counterbalance drops and rotates the pulley 9. if the circumference of the pulleys 7 is half that of the pulley 9 the ropes 6 which are looped one or more times around the pulleys 7, will move upward with half the velocity at which the car moves, and the guide member 5 which is fastened to the cable 6 at the point 12 will always be positioned just half way between the car and the stuffing head 2, which is-the most effective place to support the shaft where but one guide member is used. The rope 6 is supported and guided by the idler pulleys 13 and 14:, the former being mounted on fixed bearings at the top of the pit while the latter is mounted adjustabl-y near the bottom of the pit in such manner as to maintain a tension on the cable 6 at all times. Referring tov the structure shown in Fig ure 2 it will be seen that I have therein indicated a fixed guide 15 at the top of the cylinder and a movable guide 5 above the fixed guide, and in the cylinder 16 I have also indicated a movable guide 17 adapted to support the plunger within the cylinder midway between the end of the plunger and the guide stufling head 15. Guide 17 is con nected to the guide 5 by the rods 18 passing through the guide head 15 and stuffed to prevent leaking, in any suitable manner. The, guide 5 is operated just as shown in Figure 1 and therefore is always positioned midway between the guide head 15 and the car and moves with half the velocity of the can, therefore the guide 17 within the cylinder being connected with guide 5 moves with half the. velocity of the plunger and is always positioned midway between the end of the plunger and the guide head 15.

InF-igure 3 I have illustrated an elevator system similar to the one shown in Figure 1,v but having. a plurality of guide members 19, 20- and 21,. so arrange-d that they will rise withvarious relative velocities with respect to the carand always be positioned equidistant. from each other and the guide head. 2 of the cylinder and the top of the plunger; To accomplish such a condition the same. arrangement of pulleysas appears in;- Figure 1 is used, there being a. driving pulley 9and the counterbalance 1L and rope- 10,.the; same as before. Each. guide member" .19, 20' and 21, is secured toiaseparate rope:

19 20- and 21 which pass over separate idler pulleys 13 and once around their respective driver pulleys, and down around a separate idler pulley 1& for each rope, in the same manner as the device shown in Figure 1. In order that the guides 19, 20 and 21 ,will always remain equidistant from one another and that the guides 19 and 21 will always be positioned equidistant from the guide head 2 and the top of the plunger respectively, it will be seen that guide 20 must move half as fast asthe car 3, guide 19 with one fourth the speed of the car, and guide 21 with three fourths the speed of the car.

This relative speed of each guide is accomplished by making the driving pulley 19 which drives the guide 19 just one fourth the circumference of that of the main drive pulley' 9, and that of the drive pulleys 20 and 21 just one half and three fourths the circumference respectively. As the guide members 19-, 20' and 21 are each fastened to their respective drive ropes 19, 20 and '21, it will be seen that they are positively raised and lowered when the plunger moves.

Referring to Fig. 4, 35, 36,37, andi38 are a series of plunger elements, the upper three of which are provided with the racks 39, 39, and The upper end of the elements 35,

3'6, and 37 carry the gears 44 (Fig 5),

43, and 40, such gears meshing with the racks 39, 39, and 39. The gear 44: has mounted to move with it a gear a l (Figs. 4: and 5), which gear engages the rack 42, while the gear 43* has mounted to move with it the gear 43 engaging the rack 42, and the gear 40 has mounted to move with it the gear 41 engaging the rack 42. The rack 4L2 is fixed in any desired manner in the position shown. From a consideration of the foregoing description in connection with Figs. 1' and: 5 it will. be seen that by positive operation of the gears and. rack bars as shown, the four elements will be caused to move at proper relative speeds,.and will always occupy the proper relative position as compared with the position of the car. While each of these elements receives its pressure fromv a common supply, the difi erence in height, especially when the car is at the top of the well, causes: a difference in effective or actual: pressure per unit area. I soproporti'on the areas of the several elements asto'secure a predetermined relation between. the pressures onthe. different elements and the speed at. which thesaid elements. travel. Thus to the upper. element which has the greatest throw and highest speed I give the largest area. The relative areas of the lower: ends of the plungers are indicated in Fig. i? in which the reference letters a, 12, 0,.and d indicate-the lower ends of the plungers 38, 37,. 36, and 35,. respectively, the area of the-portion. aexposed to end I), the area of the end 0 being less than the area of the end Z2, and the area of the end (Z being less than the area of the end 0.

With reference to the operation of the mechanism particularly shown in Figure 4, it is to be observed that it is the intention to have each of the elements 35 to 38 inclusive do a portion of the lifting, and of course it is therefore necessary that the lifting force exerted, say for example by the lower element 35, should be transmitted to the car through the upper plunger element 38, which is accomplished in this instance by means of the rack bar pinion arrangement, the upward pressure of the element 35 being transferred through the pinion or gear 44 to the element 36 immediately above, and then in turn, through the gear 43 and pinion 43 and rack bars, to the element 37, the force of which, together with the force which is received from the element below, is again transferred through the gears 40 and 41, to the upper plunger element 38, aiding thus in raising the car. It will now be seen that there is another object to be accomplished by so arranging the areas of the several elements that the upper plunger is of larger area than the element immediately below, and so on throughout the height of the structure. Thus the larger area of the plunger element 38 would take a port-ion of the strain oflt' the gears, due to the upward pressure of the element or elements beneath, and would tend to make the device run freer and compensate in a certain measure at least, for the disadvantages incident to transmission of the forces of the lower element through the rack and pinion means, to the upper plunger element.

The several rack and pinion devices re ferred to thus constitute not only a means for securing proper relative speed and movement of the several elements, but also a positive means for transmitting the force of lower elements to the upper ones, so as to be effective in raising the car. It will be further understood that another purpose of this proportioning of the areas of the successive elements is to obtain such an action as will relieve the devices which secure the proper relative motion of said elements, of as much strain as possible. With this object in view, the area of the plunger proper (38) may be made large enough to itself sustain the weight of the car, and the areas of the succeeding elements only large enough to sustain the weight of those elements themselves when they are at the end of the top of their stroke. It will be seen that under these conditions the telescoping elements below the first element constitute in effect extensible cylinder sections, said cylinder sections each serving as a means for supporting the main plunger intermediate the ends of its stroke.

It will be seen that in order to secure the proper relative speed, the gears 41, 40, should be proportioned for three-to-one engagement, the gears 43, 43 for a two-to-one engagement, and the gears 44 44, for a one-to-one arrangement. The arrangement of the gears 44 44 is indicated in plan view in Fig. 5, the gears 44 and 44 being carried by a rod 46 mounted in brackets supported by the plunger element 35. The gear 44 meshes with the gear 39 on the plunger 36, while the gear 44 meshes with the rack 42 supported in the well in which the elevator operates.

In Fig. 6 a more evenly balanced arrangement of gears is provided than in the construction of Fig. 5, inasmuch as two racks 42 are provided with which the gears 47 47 mesh. The gears 47, 47, are carried by shafts 46 46, and these shafts are operated from the gear 47 meshing with the rack on the plunger, by means of the pair of bevel gears 48 illustrated in the drawing.

Referring to Figure 7 it will be seen that I have therein shown the element or part 36 and the lower end of the part 37, the latter provided with the rack 39 and fixed rack 42 and engaging wheels 43 and 43, the same being on a larger scale and somewhat different in detail to make the operation clearer. As indicated in the drawing, a double rack-one on each side of the element-may be used if preferred. This figure shows the construction of the lower end of the plungers 36, 37 and 38. As shown, I provide the guide ring 54 which is furnished with a suitable slot or recess through which the rack 39 may travel up or down, and the lower end of the part is provided with a packing device indicated at 55.

Referring to Figures 8, 9 and 10 I have shown a telescoping plunger elevator of similar plunger construction as is illustrated in Figure 4, the difference being in the manner of driving the plunger elements to accomplish the same results as are apparent in the device shown in Figure 4. In this construction, referring also to Figures 9 and 10, each plunger element excepting the lowest is provided with worm racks 42 on opposite sides into which mesh the worm wheels 50 and 50 mounted in a guide head frame 51. Integral with the guide head are the guide arms 52 which slidably engage the guides 58 at the side of the pit. The worms 50 and 50 are driven through the bevel gears 52 and 53 which are in turn driven by the rotation of the drum 59 actuated by the movement of the drive rope 57. The worm wheel 50 is driven through pinions 50 and the gear 54 which has a bearing on the guide head 51 and surrounds the plunger 36 and the racks 42'. i

Referring more particularly to Figure 8, the arrangement of the various drums and pulleyswill be disclosed. At the top of the plungers 85, 3'6 and 37 is mounted a guide member 52" which carries substantially the same drive mechanism as is disclosed in Figures '9 and 1'0 with the exception of the size of the various drums 59, 56 and 60, which vary by an increasing circumference respectively. The cable 57 passes one or more times around each drum, around the idler 61 thence around the drive drum 62, over the idler 63 thence down around idler 64. This last idler is mounted on a weighted lever 65 so as to keep a constant tension on the cable 57.

As in the operation of the drive drum of the elevator shown in Figure 1', the drum 62 is driven by counterbalance cable 68 passing over a pulley 69 and attached to a suitable counterbalance suspended thereon.

The cable 57 is reversely wound on the drum 62 so that when the elevator rises the cable 57 moves downward, thus increasing the relative movement of the cable with re spect to the drums. This is desirable in order to move the worms '50 and 50 at the required speed without th'e'use of large gear ratios between the wheels 52 and 53. The gears at each guide are all the same pitch and size and are so arranged as to make the plunger element on which they are mounted move at such speed that theguide members 52 will at all times be equidistant from one another and from the cylinder guide and the upper end of the plunger in other words, so that the section 36 moves twice as fast as the section 35, thesection 37 one and onehalf times as fast as the section 3'6", etc.

Figure 11 shows a modification of the manner of driving the various gears of Figure lor the Various drums of Figure 8 by using a chain in place of the vertical racks of Figure l or't-he cable of Figure 8 and holding said chain in engagement with the gears or drums by idlers 56" 56 which aremounted in or carried by the guide arms.

Itisobvious that other modifications and alterations in the arrangement of details in connection with my invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

Having'thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. An elevator mechanism comprising a car, a cylinder, a lifting plunger therefor, and means supported and moved independentlyof the car for supporting said plunger intermediate the car and the cylinder, said means being governed so as to move uniformly as the car moves at a slower rate of speed.-

2. An elevator mechanism comprising a car, a plunger, a cylinder, and means supported independently of the car for guiding said plunger intermed-i'ate the'car and cylinder, with mechanism for moving said guide means at a fractionof the speed of the car to position to provide lateral support for said plunger as the car is elevated.

3. An elevator mechanism comprising a car, a plunger, a cylinder, and means sup ported independently of the car for guiding saidplunger intermediate the car and the cylinder,- and mechanism for moving said guide means at a speed proportional to or less than that of the car.

at. An elevator mechanism comprising a car, a plunger, a cylinder, means for guiding said plunger intermediate the car and the cylinder and a rack and pinion device for controlling the movement of said guide means whereby the desired relative movement ofthe guide means with respect to the car is secured.

5. A'- plnnger elevator comprising in combination,- a car, a plunger, and a guide con structed with actuating means independent of the car whereby it is moved at one-half the speed of the car;

(5'. A compound plunger system comprising aplurality of elements separately subject to fluid pressure, and means whereby the force of each of said elements is positively transmitted to each of the'others,

7'. A compoundplunger device comprising in combination a plurality of separately movablevertically disposed elements, the area of the upper of said elements being the largest, and the areas of the others decreas ingser-ially toward thebottom, and means whereby the forceof eachis positively transmitted to each of the others.

81A- compound plunger device for elevator cars comprising in combination, a

plurality of separately movable telescoping elements, thearea of the upper of said' elements being suiiicient to secure the lifting of the car, andthe area of the lower elemerits being" sufficient to secure their movement to their'upper'positions, together with means whereby the-element's are geared togather for insurin'g positively relativemovemen't.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

F. L. O. WADSWORTH.

Witnesses:

LETITIA- A. MYERS, ARoHwoRTH' MARTIN.

Gopi'es of this paten may be obtained for'five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of fatents. Washington, D. 0. 

